A can of cola isn’t what you would normally reach for first when looking to clean your home, but it is among the household items recommended by Alice Beer. In a segment for This Morning, the cleaning expert explained how items you already have could save you a fortune on specialist products and even dry cleaning bills. Savvy cleaners have turned to hairspray in the past to remove pen stains from fabrics, such as soft furnishings or clothes. This is no longer the hero product it used to be, as manufacturers of the styling staple have changed the recipes to avoid drying out a user’s hair. This means it contains less alcohol, which was the magic ingredient to shift stains.

Beer recommends hand sanitiser instead, which famously contains alcohol and there’s a good chance that most people will have a small bottle of it in the house already. She says that even the darkest of pen stains can be removed by rubbing in a small amount of the sanitiser and then putting it in the washing machine. When it comes to grease stains, Beer suggests using a can of cola. Even white items, such as a school shirt, can be returned to their former glory by being soaked in the fizzy drink. Simply leave the item submerged in the cola for 45 minutes before washing it as normal and the grease will disappear.

Even Beer has been amazed by how well the techniques have worked, as she picked them up from other cleaning experts. She said: “That was a really surprising one; I didn’t think that one would work,” when commenting on the cola hack. Dirty trainers are a common problem and even after washing them, they can often retain marks for the rest of their useful life. Adding half a cup of vinegar to the drum of the machine can be the difference between tired looking shoes and a pair of trainers that have been returned to their former state.

Once they come out of the washing machine, Beer added that it is a good idea to fill them with scrunched-up newspaper. Not only will this help to absorb the excess water and therefore facilitate quicker drying, but the shoes will retain their shape. Other shoes can benefit from life hacks too, but Beer could not tell hosts Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield anything they didn’t already know about combatting scuffs on black shoes. Both of the presenters admitted they have used a marker pen to colour in areas that have become worn on smart shoes.

While it’s worth giving some of these solutions a try, sometimes one or two hacks won’t do and you need to call in the professionals. If that sounds like your situation, then FastKlean and its team of cleaners are on hand to ensure that those stubborn stains are shifted and your house is left nice and clean again.

Do you have any tried and tested life hacks that use unexpected household items to clean your home? Let us know in the comments.